United's Evans hopes for quick recover from Crystal Palace defeat

Manchester United defender Jonny Evans wants to quickly forget last night's shock Carling Cup loss to Crystal Palace. The Championship side claimed an unexpected place in the semi-finals with a 2-1 victory in extra time at Old Trafford on Wednesday. United looked set to gain the upper hand after a Federico Macheda penalty cancelled out Darren Ambrose's wonder strike but Glenn Murray settled the tie with a header in the 98th minute.

Evans had been restored to the United side, and handed the captain's armband, as manager Alex Ferguson made 10 changes but he could only rue the team's performance. The Northern Ireland international told MUTV: "We're very disappointed not to be in the semi-finals.

Jonny Evans

"I thought we would go on after we scored, and going into the first period of extra time, playing towards the Stretford End, I thought we'd have a chance of getting a goal and seal it from there. "The games are coming thick and fast and the manager will need his squad. So we need to pick ourselves up and hopefully win on Saturday." United return to Premier League action with a trip to Aston Villa this weekend.

Fergie says sorryFerguson, who was upset with the manner of his side's defeat, apologised to the fans after the match, which also saw the Da Silva twins and Dimitar Berbatov forced off with injuries. "I don't know where to start," said Ferguson.

"I really apologise to our fans because that was not a Manchester United performance. I don't want to take anything away from Palace and I want them to get to the final because it was a mammoth effort and they worked their socks off so we're just very disappointed."